Explosive composition and method of producing same.



- UNITED jsTATEs ,PATENTOFFICE. 1

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-. 1,231,351. :w lie-Drawing. To all'tbkomit may concern:

Be it known that I, HAROLD Enemi s subject of the King of Great Britain, re-

siding in Pittsburgh, Allegheny county,

' 5 State-of Pennsylvania, have invented cer-' ,tain new and useful Improvements in Explosive Compositions and Methods of Pro;

ducing Same; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de-- lo'scription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the production of explosive compositions containing nitrated carbohydrates such 31 or starch,

,in admixture with, or in r, ution in, a nitrated 1.2-glycol ormixture of nitrated 12 glycols, or a mixture of' suc h iiitrated 1.2-

glycol or nitrzliaized 1.2-gly:ol's-with glycerin;

and it also re tes to methods of producing such explosive compositions by dissolving the carbohydrate ina glycol medium and then nitrating the resulting'solution, whereby the nitration of the carbohydrate and of the 1.2-

glycolsis effected by a single operation. The simpler carbohydrates, such as sugar.-

.. starch, dextrin, etc, are not capable of direct nitration, commercially as such as is cellulose, to produce commercial nitro-carbohydrate explosives. I have discovered, how ever, that the nitration of the simple carbo-' hydrates can be effected in'a smooth and advantageous manner by dissolving the car-' bohydra'tes in a 1.2 --gly(pl medium, and

,35 by nitrating the resulting solution. The

method of effecting this nitration, and thenovel composition resulting therefrom, form the subject matter of the present invention;

The carbohydrates which are adapted for use, according to the present invention, are the simpler carbohydrates whichare soluble in the 1.2-glycols. Among these simpler carbohydrates of particular importance are the sugars, including glucose, dextrose. cane sugar, and other monoses, dioses and i polyoses, etc. Accordingly, I use the termcarbohydrate, in .a generic sense, to inelude such simpler carbohydrates, which are soluble in the glycols, and which are capable of being nitrated in suchsolutions.

The individual 1.2-glycols, or the mixture of l.2-glycols,'or the mixture of 1.2-glycols and polyglycols, or of 1.2-glycols and glycerin. which are utilized for dissolving thecarbohydrate, can be produced in various ways.

For example, ethylene glycol can be pro- Specification. of Letters Ifatent. i v Y Application filed April 17, 1915.- Serial No. 91,687;

Patented June 26, 1191.71

duced from ethyl alcohol by. first converting I the alcohol into ethylene, chlorinating the a ethylene,-and heating the resulting chlorid' with an'ajqueous solution of sodium carbon-' ate. A mixture of ethylene, propylene and buty'lene glycols can be obtained from oil "gas by subjecting the oil gas to a cracking process, chlorinating the resulting unsaturated hydrocarbons, and converting the [chlorinated hydrocarbonsinto glycols by heating with an aqueous solution of sodium 'carbonate- These methods'of producing the individual 1.2-glycol or mixture of 1.2-

glycols are referred to-asinstances of how they may be prepared on a commercial scale. I delnot, however, in the present "instance,

limit myself to any particularmethod of preparing these glycols, since obviously many different methods are available, and

densing' agent, or catalytic agent, they combine, with elimination of water, to form the diglycols, triglycols, etc., which are herein referred to, generically, as polyglycols 1.2- lycols, ,01 mixof time, orare treated with a suitable con- Where a single 12-glycol is-condensed the a mixture of 1.2-glycols is condensed, the resulting polyglycol mixture may be made up of the polyglycols from the individual resulting polyglycol will, of course, be a I formed from two or more molecules of this glycol by the elimination of water. Where glycols, or of condensation products of diff'erent glycols; with each other. only a part of the glycol or glycols' will be condensed to polyglycols, and the resulting product will'accordingly be made up of, a'

Usually,

mixture of 1.2-glycols with polyglycols, in

which mixture the polyglycols may be pres ent to the extent of only a few per cent., or of a much larger per cent Where the indi# vidual polyglycols are desired, they may be isolated from admixture with the glycols and other polyglycols, or they may be produced by other suitable means.

, The particular method of producing the -1.2-glycols and the polyglycols forms no part of the present invention, and accordingly any suitable method may be utilized for their production.

Q The polyglycols, as well as the 1.2-glycols. can be used for dissolving the carbohydrates,

75 the particulanmethod employed forms no with important advantages due to the increased viscosity of the resulting ,product..-

On the other hand, there are important ad-' 1 vantages in the utilization of a mixture of therewith can be varied within rather wide limits, depending upon the particular 1.2- glycol or mixture of glycols utilized as a solvent, the viscosity or other properties of the resulting explos1ve, and other considerations. It will be understood that where relatively larger amounts of the higher 1.2- glycols and polyglycols' are-present, the solvent will be of a somewhat more viscous nature, and the resulting nitrated product will be correspondingly modified. For some Z. purposes it may be .more advantageous to cent., .of the carbohydrates,

' teristics maybe dissolve only small amounts, say a few vper in the glycol medium, and thereby produce an explosive composition containing only small amounts of the nitro-carbohydrate. For other purposes, an explosive of more important charproduced by dissolving larger proportions of the carbohydrate in the glycol medium.

The solution of the carbohydrate in the glycol medium is nitrated by the action of a mixture of concentrated sulfuric and nitric acids, such as are used for the manufacture of'nitroglycerin, and there is produced as a result of the nitration a mixture of the nitro-carbohydrate with, or a solution of the nitro-carbohydrate in, the nitrated 1.2-

glycol or mixture of nitrated 1.2-glycols, or mixture of nitrated 1.2-glycols and nitrated 1.2-polyglycols y I The product of nitration'is' ofmaterially reducedjvolatility, because of the added viscosity ofthe nitro-carbohydrate constituent, as compared with the volatility of the nitrated 1.2- lycols themselves.-

' illustrates the invention:

The fol owing specific example further Forty parts of cane sugar are dissolved in about sixty parts of the mixture of ethylene, propylene and butylene glycolsreferred to above, and obtainable, for example, from oil gas according to the process of my application Serial No. 55,934., filed October 15, 1915. The solution is promoted by warming to about then allowed to cool to room temperature. This is then dropped slowly into about 800 arts of a mixture containing equal parts y weight of 95 per cent. nitric acid and 4 fuming sulfuric acid containing 6 to 10 per cent. SO Prior to this addition, the nitrating acid is cooled to about 5 C. The nitration is carried out at around 15 0., the

' the glycerin may,

to 100. C.,-and the mixture is acid-.mixture being stirred vigorously dur-- ing the slow addition of the glycol mixture. After the addition has been completed, the mixture is stirred for some time, say about thirty minutes, during which time the temhaving the advantage oflbw volatilization glycol medium, is a stable product and of low freezing point. It has the further 7 advantage that its viscosity can bevaried ,by varying either the amount of carbohydrate dissolved or the amounts of polyglycols and of glycols present. The propertyican also be varied by using different carbohydrates. For some purposes it may be advantageous to incorporate nitroglycerin with the explosive compositions. For this purpose with advantage; be mixed with the glycols and form a part of the solvent, so that it will be nitratedsimultaneously with the other constituents. Inasmuch as the nitration process of the 1.2- glycols has proven to be similar to, or substantially the same as, that of .nitrating' glycerin, the nitration process proceeds smoothly to give the desired nitrated mixtures.

The explosive compositions of the present invention can of course be compounded with other explosive ingredients or constituents, including the inorganic oxidizing agents where these are of importance in the explosive composition. to the nitrated 1.2-glycol and nitro-carbo-' hydrate composition, generically, as including not only the nitrated .1.2-glycols and their mixtures with each other and with nitrated polyglycols, but also their mixture with nitro-glycerin and other explosive constituents with which they may be combined in the production of commercial explosives. I claim t 1. The method, of nitrating carbohydrates soluble in 1.2-glycols and of producing explosive compositions containing nitrated carbohydrates, which comprises dissolving the carbohydrates in a 1.2-glycol mediumand nitrating the resulting solution, and

Accordingly, "I refer thereby producing a mixture of nitrated 1.2-

carbohydrate with nitrated 1.2-glycol or nitroglycols; substantially as described- 2- The method of nitrating carbohydrates soluble in 1.2'-glycols and of'producmg explosive compositions containing nitrated which comprises dissolving carbohydrates, the carbohydrate in a mixture of 1.2-glycols and nitrating the resulting solution and bohydrates, which comprises carbohydrate in a mixture of 1-2-glycolscontaining ethylene, propylene and butylene thereby producing a mixture of nitrated 1.2-carbohydrate with nitroglycols; substantially as described. a

3. The method of nitrating carbohydrates soluble in 1.2-glycols'and of producing explosive compositions contaming nitrated carbohydrates, which comprises dissolving the carbohydrate in a mixture of 1.2-glycols and polyglycols and nitrating the resulting solution and thereby producing a mixture of nitro-car'bohydrates with nitrated 1.2 .glycols and nitrated polyglycols; substantially as described.

4, The method of nitrating carbohydrates soluble in 1.2-glycols and of producing explosive compositions containing nitrated cardissolving the glycols, and nitrating the resulting solution and thereby producing a mixture of nitro carbohydrate with nitrated 1.2-glyc0ls; substantially as described.

5. The method of nitrating carbohydrates soluble in 1.2-glycols and of producing explosive compositions containing nitrated carbohydrates, which comprises dissolving the carbohydrate in a mixture of 1.2-glycols containing ethylene, propylene and butylene glycols together with polyglycols, and nitrating the resulting solution. and thereby producing a' mixture of nitro-carbohydrate' soluble in 1.2-glycols and of producing explosive compositions containing nitratedcarbohydrates, which comprises dissolving the carbohydrate in a mixture of 1.2-glycols containing ethylene, propylene and butylene glycols together with glycerin, and nitrating the resulting solution and thereby produc mg nitrated 1.2-glycols, and nitro-glycerin; substantially as described.

8. The method of nitratin carbohydrates soluble in 1.2- glycols an of producin explosive compositions containing nitrated as described.-

a mixture of nitro-carbohydrate with.

carbohydrate s, which comprises dissolving the carbohydrate in a mixture of 1.2-glycols containing ethylene, propylene and butylene .glycols together with polyglycols and glycerin, and nitrating'the resulting solution and thereby producing a mixture of nitro-carbohydrateswith nitrated.1.2-glyco1s, nitrated polyglycols and nitro-glycerin; substantiallyas described.

9. An explosive composition, comprising a mixture of nitro-carbohydrate with a nitrated 1.2-glycol; substantially as described.

10. An explosive composition, comprising a mixtureof nitro-carbohydrate with a nitrated mixture of 11. An exploslve composition, comprising a mixture of nitro-carbohydrate with mixtures of nitrated 1.2-.glycols and nitrated polyglycols; substantially as described.

12. An explosive composition, comprising a mixture of nitro-carbohydrate with a ni 1.2-glycols; substantially trated mixture of nitrated 1.2-glycols containing ethylene, propylene and butylene glycols; substantially as described.-

13. An explosive composition, comprising a mixture of nitro-carbohydrate with a. nitrated mixture of nitrated 1.2-glycols containing ethylene, propylene and butylene glycols, together withnitrated polyglycols;

substantially as described.

14. An explosive composition, comprising a mixture of Intro-carbohydrate with a nitrated' 1.2-glycol and nitro-glycerin; substantially as described.

15. An explosive composition, comprising a mixture of nitro-carbohydrate" .w1th a mixture of nitrated 1.2:glycols and nitroglycerin; substantially as described.

16; An explosive composition, comprising.

a mixture of nitro-carb ohydrat'e with a mixture of nitrated 1.2-glycols, nitrated olyglycols, and nitro-glycerin; substantial y as.

described.

17. An explosive composition, comprising a mixture of nitro-carbohydrate with a mix-.

ture of nitrated 1.2-glycols contaimng m trated ethylene, propylene and butylene glycols and nitro-glycerin; substantially as described.

18. An explosive composition, comprising a mixture of nitro-carbohydrate with a mixture of nitrated LEI-glycols containing nitrated ethylene, propylene and butylene gly cols, nitrated polyglycols and nitro-glycerin; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HAROLD HIBBERT. 

